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Berkshire STEM Network

MCLA CSI buildingMCLA CSI building
On This Trail

 

The Berkshire STEM Network is the product of a state-funded initiative to connect regional schools, and businesses for the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and work force development within our community.

There are 9 regional STEM Networks across Massachusetts, all aimed at strengthening their region's STEM Network. Berkshire County's STEM Network is currently based in MCLA's Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation (CSI) building.

 

About

  1. Support student academic achievement in STEM subjects in order to prepare them for college and/or careers in critical STEM job sectors, including healthcare, technology, and engineering.
  2. Provide accessibility to the STEM Library, housed in MCLA's Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation. This is a free library designed to support anyone interested in STEM education with a variety of materials, from textbooks to bug kits.
  3. Partner with local businesses, educational and cultural institutions, and others who are passionate about enriching the STEM network of Berkshire County.

 

Berkshire STEM Week 2026

Join us in person or virtually Oct. 17–24 as we explore the exciting STEM opportunities in Berkshire County! We have several great in-person events scheduled across the county, please note some do require an RSVP, or you can head to Pittsfield TV to connect via cable, digitally or on demand to view PTV events.  

10 a.m.–1 p.m.
Williams College Hopkins Memorial Forest Fall Festival, Williamstown, MA, Come celebrate the changing season with music, traditional wood-working demonstrations, apple cider production, children’s activities, hands-on activities, such as a cross-cut saw competition, scientific demonstrations, fun and games, and more! |

9:15–11 a.m.
Exploring STEM at MCLA with 2nd and 3rd graders from Abbott Memorial Elementary School.  Students will explore the night sky in the inflatable planetarium and the science of color with Berkshire Museum’s Mobile Museum unit.  

10 a.m. (PTV)
Virtual Tour of the Berkshire Innovation Center 

11 a.m. (PTV)
Virtual Tour:  Explore the Science Labs and Facilities at Berkshire Community College 

1 p.m. (PTV)
College Students in STEM:  A Panel Discussion with STEM Majors from BCC, MCLA, and Williams College (prerecorded)

6 and 7 p.m.
“Launching into STEM Week – A Planetarium Show”
Hopkins Observatory, 829 Main St., Williamstown
Free and open to the public, RSVP      

        

9:30 a.m.–noon
Berkshire Museum - Homeschool Days: Nature Unleashed
Tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. In this month’s Homeschool Day we will be learning all about the natural world and its ability to cause disastrous destruction. Come and explore the world through weather and events that can create huge problems for humans, then discuss things we can do to mitigate their results. 

9 a.m. (PTV)
“Fall Owling” A Williams College student's video project at Hopkins Memorial Forest in fall 2020 showing the capturing, banding, and measuring of Northern Saw-Whet Owls.

9:15 a.m. (PTV)
“Spring Herping” A Williams College student's video project in spring 2021 at the Hopkins Memorial Forest explaining herping (searching for amphibians and reptiles), vernal pools, wood frogs, spotted salamanders, plus general frog and salamander handling guidelines.

10 a.m. (PTV)
To Be an Environmental Consultant, with Miranda Bona, Project Geologist 

1 p.m. (PTV  prerecorded)
STEM Education Panel:  Teaching & Learning in the Field, Discussion with Education Professors, Students, and Professionals Regarding Teaching and Learning STEM

5–6:30 p.m.
Berkshire Innovation Center – Introduction to Rocketry 
David Doyle will do a demonstration launch of a variety of rockets outside at the BIC (5–5:30 p.m.) and then we will come inside where participants will be able to handle a variety of rockets and ask questions about all aspects of model rocketry.  Free and open to the public

Introduction Rocketry

8–9:30 p.m.
Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding Demonstration at Williams College’s Hopkins Memorial Forest, led by Dan Shustack, Master Bander from MCLA. During your visit, you’ll learn about — and see firsthand — our process of capturing, banding, measuring, and releasing Northern Saw-whet Owls! NSWO Banding Information & Registration

 

9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Exploring STEM at MCLA with Hoosac Valley Middle School 7th Grade Mentors.  Students will conduct hands-on lab activities in biology and chemistry and then have lunch with MCLA students to discuss their college experiences and plans for careers in STEM.  

9 a.m. (PTV)
Berkshire Grown:  How to Keep Farmers Farming 

10 a.m. (PTV)
Full Well Farm:  What is Organic Agriculture? 

11 a.m. (PTV)
Aquaponics Project in the Pittsfield Correctional Facility: produced by Youthworks of the Berkshire Workforce Board

1 p.m. (PTV)
Wind Power with Max Dilthey, UMass Amherst Offshore  Wind Professional Certification, Sustainability, Climate Adaptation

 

10 a.m.
Students from Monument Mountain High School touring Boyd Biomedical, Lee, MA

Noon
Uncharted Wild Animal Demonstration MCLA, Center for Science and Innovation 1

Uncharted Wild Animal Presentation

10:30 a.m.| (PTV)
Instruction Design Technology 

11 a.m. (PTV)
LENCO:  Armored Vehicles @ The BIC 

1 p.m. (PTV)
Electro-Magnetic Applications (EMA):  Meet the Principle Scientist 

5-7 p.m.
Flying Cloud’s STEAM Challenge Night at Berkshire Museum - Free and open to the public

STEAM Challenge Info

8-9:30 p.m.
Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding Demonstration at Williams College’s Hopkins Memorial Forest, Led by Dan Shustack, Master Bander from MCLA. During your visit, you’ll learn about — and see firsthand — our process of capturing, banding, measuring, and releasing Northern Saw-whet Owls! NSWO Banding Information and Registration 

 

8:15–9:30 a.m.
New Marlborough Central School, 1st graders will build their own oscilloscopes to explore sound energy transfer and make visible the sound waves of their voices with Flying Cloud, Inc.

9:15–11 a.m.
Exploring STEM at MCLA with 3rd graders from Clarksburg Elementary School. Students will explore the night sky in the inflatable planetarium and under the sea with Berkshire Museum’s Mobile Museum unit.  

10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Undermountain Elementary School, 1st graders will build their own oscilloscopes to explore sound energy transfer and make visible the sound waves of their voices with Flying Cloud, Inc.

Noon–12:50 p.m.
Career Seminar with Elizabeth Pitroff, MHS, PA (ASCP) Pathologist’s Assistant at MCLA Center for Science and Innovation room 124

12:30–4 p.m.
Mr. LaRochque’s AP Chemistry class from BART Charter school will be performing a spectrophotometric determination of the copper content in a penny at MCLA with professor of Chemistry, Carolyn Dehner

9 a.m. (PTV)
“Predictive Motion Workshop” with professor Paul Allen 

1 p.m. (PTV)
Pediatric Nurse:  A Quick Chat 

1:30 p.m. (PTV)
A Day in the Life:  Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Psychotherapist, Jennifer Bernard

11 a.m.
Old-Growth Forest Hike through Ice Glen led by Bob Leverett with Monica Leverett and Jared Lockwood
Location: Ice Glen, Park Street, Stockbridge, MA (park in the small lot at the end of Park Street)
Registration limited to 20 attendees

Contact

Professor Ann Billetz, a.billetz@mcla.edu

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@berkshire-stem-network-5a7662279

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